THE PAST THAT HAUNTS US
by CeciliaVallin
Summary: This is taking place several years after "a brave new world", in a reality where our heroes were never revieled for what they really are. This story lets you follow the life of Claire Bennet, and will only be from her perspective.
1. Repetition

**THE PAST THAT HAUNTS US**

_I do miss my real name from time to time, but I knew that I had to change it to live a proper life. Amazingly enough people seemed to have forgotten about my little stunt all those years back, but there was still some danger in saying the name Claire Bennet. There was always someone who remembered, even though all the trouble everyone had gone through to make it seem like it never happened. I have to confess that I did look the other way when some innocent people had been "disposed off" and that for a long time I was the most hated person in "our" community. If only that video hadn't been hidden away from us, and if only those few persons who saw it and didn't think it was just some trick hadn't been so passionate about discovering the truth about our kind._

_We'd all gone our separate ways after that. Dad and I had stayed together, until he died. Peter had left with Sylar and I'd never seen him again. And now it didn't matter. Everyone was dead, even Sylar, hidden away somewhere with some blunt object pierced through that special little spot. Sometimes I thought about seeking him out, just to make sure that he was really dead, but I never did. He had to be dead though, I mean, I must be the only living person which whom he has a past. If he was alive, wouldn't he seek me out? Sometimes I wished he would. Even though all those horribly things he'd done to me, he would've been the only thing I could relate to, but I always pushed that though far, far away._

CHAPTER ONE - REPETITION

Considering the fact that I've been forced to take on a new identity every seventh year or so, there is no denying that I have it pretty good. I have my three houses and my five apartments, my twelve bank accounts, my five cars and last but not least; that old, small, wrinkled business card with the number to Mr. Seamus Cornell, attorney at law, that's been lying in my wallet for more than 70 years now. Sure, it's not like I really need it, I know it by heart, but somehow I'm quite attached to it. After all, Mr. Seamus Cornell has given me all that I have today. Sometimes I wonder how it would've been if I'd never met him. I can't even imagine how I'd manage without all those papers he's created for me.

Though sometimes he could be kind of cruel. He once gave me the name: Dorothy Finger. I gave him plenty of mean words for that, but mostly he did great. I adored that man more than anyone, and not because he had helped me for all these years. The mere fact that he'd been around as long as I had made me happy as hell. The knowledge that I had someone around that wouldn't die as soon as I'd made their acquaintances was something that no one else could give me. And that's who my thought were lingering on as I now stood here, staring into that all familiar shape. Relief filled my body as I saw that the right side was vacant. I'd always had the right side of the room in all my years of college. I exhaled deeply before entering through the open door to repeat the same introduction system that I'd been made so accustomed to.

"You must be Sarah!" the new stranger, hopefully soon friend to be, exclaimed before I'd even had the time to turn my head to look at her. I gave her an honest smile.

"Yep, that's me!" I answered enthusiastically as I dragged my suitcase to the bed. After I'd placed it I sat down on the bed. This wasn't rude; somehow the "shaking hands routine" had just withered away during all these years. Nowadays, you just nodded or something like that. Shaking hands were for the very old, not for us youths.

"I'm Samantha, but everyone calls me Sam, you can call me Sam if you want, I actually prefer that to Samantha, Samantha makes me sound so old, you know!?"

"Sure…" I said hesitantly. It had now been made too obvious that I'd have some sleepless nights this year. Bur frankly, I didn't mind, my dear lawyer friend had shown me that with the right amount of healthy food and meditation I could be up for weeks at a time if I wanted to. I could find several reasons to why that could be useful, if it wasn't so horribly boring.

"Oh, you're cute! My friends are going to _love_ you!"

"Thanks…" I said as politely as I could and did my best not to frown. Cute in the real world meant something absolutely different than it did in my world. In my world cute mean interest, and interest later lead to relationship, and that later lead to possibly marriage if you were lucky, and then marriage lead to death, for everyone but me. So it was kind of hard for me to be anything but happy when someone calls me cute.

"You too." I added after my brief moment of thought.

Sam smiled widely at me.

"So you already have friend here, huh? Makes me feel kind of behind myself." I said.

"Oh, don't worry about that! You'll get friends right away! I know it! And this is my second year anyway, so I already know everyone worth knowing." Sam giggled. I didn't like the fact that I'd been placed with such a girly-girl, but at least I had a whole group of people as potential friends. I took comfort in that.

***

When I realized that I was awake I slowly opened my eyes and peered over to the bed across the room. It was empty. I closed my eyes again and yawned loudly. Then something moved on my bed, brushing my feet. I shriek and jumped up into a sitting position, quickly preparing myself for battle. I turned my eyes towards the potential threat and my heart relaxed.

Sam giggled and grinned at me from behind my feet.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you like that," she said between giggles "I was just waiting for you to wake up."

I rubbed my eyes with my knuckles.

"That's alright, Sam."

"Come on! Hurry now!"

I stared at her.

"Hurry for what? Aren't we free today?"

"Yeah, of course, but it's time for breakfast and I really want you to meet my friends!" she said with an almost childlike tone. I yawned again.

"I don't know, Sam…"

"Don't be a bore! It'll be fun! They're all dying to meet you!" she interrupted.

Well, this can't be any good; I thought to myself, but I did as she said.

After I'd dressed she dragged me by the hand down to the cafeteria. We ordered our breakfast and went outside to a big round table occupied by five people. As we approached one boy got up from his chair and went over to the nearest table and grabbed one empty chair. By the time we were close enough everyone had moved their chairs to make room for mine. I felt a little bit like an intruder but everyone was smiling and peering curiously at me, so it wasn't that bad.

Milo, Lucas, Amanda, Trish and Ingrid were their names. They were all overly polite to me and they were all interested in where I was from. I had my story straight, and I told them.

"I'm from London" I said for maybe the thousand time in my life.

"Really? But you don't have a accent!" Trish so stupidly stated.

"I never got one. My parents were American and I was homeschooled, so I always stuck to the American accent."

"So you've been homeschooled until now?!" Lucas exclaimed. I smiled at him and nodded.

"Yep." I simply said. They all gave each other all to obvious looks and I did my best to pretend not to notice.

"Are you like super smart then?" Trish asked. I laughed.

"No, I'm just average."

And that was actually true. Sometimes I wondered if my ability made it impossible for my brain to evolve even the sightless. I wasn't dumb of course, but I thought I deserved to be a little smarter than everyone else considering my age.

The rest of the breakfast went on just like this and when it was time for us to part our ways, I was delighted. I said my goodbyes and hurried back to my room. I grabbed my purse, made a quick inventory and then hurried back out. I closed the door, turned around and gasped. I went to a stop and stared into a pair of dark eyes, mere inches from mine.

"Milo! You scared me!" I said in relief as I realized who it was. He took s quick and very gracious step back without taking his eyes off mine. Strains of his blonde hair covered most of them, but I could clearly see a pair of brown eyes behind it. I opened my mouth to speak but then realized something. Milo was soaking wet. His clothes and hair were dripping heavily onto the floor.

"Did it start to rain?" I asked.

"No," he simply said. I started to feel uncomfortable.

"Well, I'm going into town." I said and started to make my way past him but he stepped in front of me.

"Did you really just come from England?"

I was taken aback and could feel my own confused expression take form on my face.

"Yes." I said and tried to pass him again. He wouldn't let me.

"Are you really sure?"

"Of course I am!" I snapped angrily at him "I ought to know where I'm from! Now let me pass!" I nearly hissed at him. He smiled darkly at me and stepped aside.

"If you say so…"

At first I didn't move, I just stood there glaring at him. Then I pinned my lips together and stomped away. I could swear I heard him chuckle behind me.


	2. Glances

**CHAPTER TWO - GLANCES**

My eyes were closed and I was breathing slow and heavy breaths. My legs were crossed on the chair and my hands were cupped around the scolding mug in front of me. Regularly it would have been plain black coffee, but since I, about ten minutes ago, had decided that Milo's behavior caused for some percussions, I was drinking green tea. Organic, green tea.

Sleeping wasn't something I was going to do when a strange boy tried to interrogate me on my first day at college. I feared he may have some clue to what I am and I'm not going to sleep until I knew exactly how much he knew. So here I was, being as healthy as I could and meditating in the middle of a crowded coffee shop.

"This was a bad idea…" I muttered to myself when I realized there was no way I could concentrate in a place like this. I released the mug and placed my palms on the table.

"Bad idea." I repeated to myself.

"How are you?" a familiar voice asked from in front of me and a hand placed itself over mine. I smiled and opened my eyes.

"Hiro…" I said and met his eyes "Great timing."

The Asian smiled back at me and I turned my hand around to grasp his. He squeezed it lightly as a response. I stared onto his aged face and felt remorse. Soon even he would be gone.

"I'm lonely" I said and my smile disappeared. His face filled with concern and he grabbed my hand with both of his.

"Don't you have anyone now?"

I sighed.

"I've just started here. It's all new again. I hate it."

"Do you want me to stay?"

"No, you have your stuff and I have mine. I'm glad you came though."

"I promised, didn't I?"

My smile returned.

"You did. Where are you?"

"I'm in Japan. Ando's funeral."

My eyes filled with tears and I started sobbing.

"Oh God" I cried "I can't remember it, Hiro! I can't"

"It's okay, Claire! It was a long time ago. It's okay." He said and gently caressed my hand. I looked up at him through watery eyes.

"Why did you come today? It must be awful for you."

"I realized that this pain is something you have every day, and I had to see how you were."

My sobbing increased and I was crying loudly now.

"Take me there, Hiro. I have to remember it."

"Of course…" he answered and then we were gone.

***

We reappeared in front of a newly filled grave. I stared into the dirt and felt my heart fall inside my chest. I felt Hiro's arms around me and I turned and buried my face in his chest. We stood there for a long time, but time had no meaning with Hiro, so it didn't matter. When I collected myself I fell to my knees and placed my palm on the dirt.

"He was amazing." I said.

"Yes, he was." He agreed with a respectful voice."

"Will you ever go see him again? Like you do me?"

"No" he sighed "It's not the same"

"Yeah…"

"Come on, Claire. I'll take you home."

I sniffed, wiped my eyes and stood up. And then, once again, we disappeared.

***

He'd taken me to my dormitory and we appeared in the middle of my room. As soon as we were steady on the floor I flung myself into his arms.

"Promise you'll come back!"

"Every year until I die, as promised."

"That's just it, Hiro. You'll die. And then I'll have no one!"

"Don't be sad, Claire. I still have some years left. This isn't the last time."

"I know, it's just, like you're not even here, not really, I mean, you're dead now, in this time, for so many years you've been dead and still you're here! How can I ever survive when you're gone forever! I'll have no one left!"

"You'll just have to manage. It's true, Claire."

I took a step back and grabbed his hands.

"Don't tell me what a mess I am."

He laughed quietly.

"I won't. You'll never know."

"Not until years later at least." I said, and tried to seek comfort in those words. And then he was gone. Every time he left I feared he wouldn't come back, and some year, he wouldn't come. I threw myself on my bed and cried the rest of the pain away.

***

I must've fallen asleep, since I woke up about an hour later, mascara smeared all over my face. I sighed and dragged myself into the bathroom. I stared the shower, undressed and placed myself in front of the mirror. I inspected my own face and felt even worse. I looked so pathetic. Crying about my silly problems. And I had no one I could talk to about it, not even Seamus. This was my curse, and I had to live with it alone. I tore my eyes away from myself and climbed into the shower.

It felt amazing; all that scolding water that didn't hurt me, just fill my body with warmth. I looked down on my arms, blazing red, then light again, the red again, then light again. "That's so depressing…" I whispered to myself and closed my eyes to try to enjoy the shower again.

The water fell down my back, caressed me like hands. I realized this wasn't normal. It actually felt like actual hands. I spun and blinked the water away from my lashes, but no one was there. Of course not, silly girl; I thought, you're alone in the shower. There is no one here with you. I simply shrugged the thought away and continued with my shower, though I hurried a little to finish and felt a bit relieved when I turned the water off and stepped out.

I dried myself, dressed, put a towel over my shoulder, let my damp hair fall over it, and exited the bathroom. Sam had entered the room sometime during my shower, and she looked up from her small mirror she was using to put on makeup with.

"Oh good, you've showered! Perfect!"

"And that's perfect why?" I asked as I walked over to my bed to sit down.

"We're going out! You, me and the gang!"

"We are?" I asked skeptically and stared drying my hair with the towel.

"Oh yes, we are! It's going to be so fun!"

_Fucking, annoying, perky voice!_

"I'm right about finished, but I'm going over to Trish's to drink some cider before we all go, so you can get ready here and then we'll meet you downstairs!"

I frowned under the towel. I didn't really feel like spending any more time than necessary with Milo.

"Why don't you just tell me to what and where it is we're going, and I'll meet you all there? I can be kind of slow when it comes to makeup and stuff" I tried to sound as enthusiastically as she was about going out.

"Umm… I guess. Yes! That'll work!"

She told me the name of the club and where it was located and I promised her I would find it without problem before she took off and left me alone. I waited two hours before getting ready (which took me about twenty minutes) and then I reluctantly navigated my way to the club.

***

After I'd been carded I want into the club and searched my way through the room until I found Sam and the others. Sam lit up like the sun itself when she saw me and she jumped up from her seat and hugged me.

"Oh thank God! I totally forgot that you may not come in! We always come in, my brother's the bouncer, but I totally forgot about you!"

"Oh, it was easy" I said and made a mental note to never let myself be introduced to her brother since I didn't know how he felt about fake-IDs. I peeked over her shoulder and noticed, to my surprise, that everyone else was glaring at me. I couldn't help but to frown, but when my eyes met Milo's my face went blank. His whole body was literally shivering with anger and he didn't even bother to hide the fact that that anger was meant for me and me only. I quickly made my way out from Sam's hug and grabbed her by the shoulders, making sure I could only see her. Her face was as happy as always. At least she didn't seem to hate me.

"I'm going to get something to drink." I said and nodded towards the bar. She winked at me and went back to her seat. I didn't stay long enough to see if they were all still glaring but instead I instantly took off in the direction of the bar.

I placed my order and stayed by the bar when my drink had arrived. There was no way I was going to go back to those haters, so I stood there, inspecting the club while I tried to figure out an good enough excuse to why I needed to go home. And that's when I saw him.

He was sitting at the bar, maybe five persons away from me. He hadn't noticed me and without thinking I simply whispered his name.

"Syl…" but something grabbed my arms with such force that the word disappeared from my lips and I was pulled back, away from his sight. Someone grabbed my other arm and confused I looked up to see that it was Lucas.

"What…" I started, but silenced when I saw his menacing smile and blazing eyes. I instead turned my face to see who the other grabber was, though I already knew… Milo. He looked just as threatening as Lucas, if not more, and he said something to me as they dragged me through the room, but I couldn't hear what it was. Before I could really grasp what was happening we were out the backdoor and the two boys threw me down on the ground forcefully. I heard my arm crack, and I quickly snapped it back into place before they could see.

"Don't bother, freak! We already know!" Milo cursed at me. I stared at him.

"I don't understand!" I screamed at him and then I felt someone kick me in the face.

"Wohoo! Go Amanda!" Milo yelled approvingly. I turned my face to the ground, wincing at the blood that forced itself into my mouth. I'd always though a broken nose felt kind of funny, and when I was thinking about that, someone grabbed my hair and pulled my face up from the ground. I felt Milo as he placed himself on my back and leaned his face down to mine.

"I saw your video, Claire Bennet, and as far as you know, this is attempt number one…" he whispered into my ear and chuckled quietly before smashing my face into the hard concrete. They were all laughing around me. I recognized the voice of Amanda, Milo, Lucas and Trish. I was actually glad that Sam wasn't with them.

"Hey Trish!" I heard Lucas shout "You want to go?"

"Nah… I'm alright."

"Come on! It's not like it's hurting her! She doesn't even scream!"

"Maybe she's gone mute from the terror of it." Someone said from a distance. My attackers silenced and Milo's grip on my hair loosened a bit. Then, as his confident grew stronger from the situation, it hardened even more than before.

"Stay out of it, Goth boy!" he screamed towards the stranger "Unless you want some yourself!" he threatened. I couldn't understand what this man was doing just standing there staring. To him I must look like a defenseless little girl. Though maybe he was one of those who enjoyed to see girls like me be beaten up. I sighed at the thought. The man didn't seem to response to the hostility in Milo's voice, he just talked along as if they were all passing each other on the street.

"Well, that depends on what you mean, youngster. I'd love me some sweet Ms. Bennet, but your attempt of violence, well, that's more of an insult to someone like me."

I froze on the ground. It was him I saw inside! It was him! He wasn't dead! He wasn't! My heart started racing and to my surprise, it wasn't because of fear. I was actually relieved that he was here, and alive! I couldn't breathe. Sylar…

"Yeah, you better be scared, bitch!" Milo said to me as he obviously interpreted my stiffness the wrong way. Sylar seemed to think the same.

"I would bet you a dollar she's not afraid of_ you_, tiny."

"Oh yeah?! Well now you better be!"

I heard the s low thump as Sylar took one step forward.

"What you going to do, waterboy? Get me wet? Is that you're big plan?"

Now everything went silent and since everyone seemed to be busy with Sylar I took my chance to get my face away from the ground and I twirled around and sat myself with crossed legs on the pavement. I drew my hand under my nose to remove some of the blood and lifted my eyes to Sylar. It was really him. He was alive, and he was standing right in front of me. I felt my own mouth form a smile as I stared at him and he met my eyes and smiled back.

"Are you smiling at me, Claire-bear?" he asked with the same tone you use on a child.

I couldn't answer, I just smiled even wider. It was like I was in some kind of hypnoses and I'd totally forgotten about the kind of situation I was in, until I felt Milo's boot hot my face, I cursed, since he was starting to annoy me and I prepared myself to once again bury my face in the pavement. But I didn't. I heard Milo cry out in pain, all the others yelled in surprise and then I was standing up in a firm grip from Sylar's hands. I stared into his dark eyes in awe. I chuckled and then turned his face away from me.

"You can all leave if you want to." He said. I didn't turn to look of they did, I didn't dare to look away from him in fear of that he'd disappear.

"Not you!" he hissed.

I heard footsteps ass my attackers ran away as fast as they could. I forced myself to look down on the ground beside me, where I now saw Milo, lying on the ground with a broken nose. To my horror, Sylar released me and squatted down beside him. He grabbed him by each arm and pulled him up a few decimeters.

"You broke her nose" he said and pressed his thumb into Milo's nose. Milo cried out in pain.

"And her arm" he continued and twitched his hand a bit. Milo's arm cracked and he screamed.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" he cried out between heavy sobs. Sylar smiled.

"You won't do it again." He demanded calmly.

"I promise!"

"And if you ever even look the wrong way at her again, I'll make sure your little friends find out all about you."

Now Milo just nodded, defeated.

"Great. Now, away you go." He said with a perky voice and stood up. I watched as Milo dragged himself up on his legs and staggered away from sight. When he was gone Sylar turned to me.

"You should shower." He said.


	3. New Abilities

**CHAPTER THREE - NEW ABILITIES**

We popped up in what I assumed was his apartment. I was a little startled at the sudden change in surrounding around me, but since Hiro had become a yearly visit, I was kind of used to the whole teleportation. The fact that Sylar was the one performing this though; came to me as a big surprise.

"How did you get this?" I asked hesitantly when I'd collected myself from the chock. He looked down on me a raised one eyebrow. I noticed that I wasn't at all afraid of him as he now towered over me. This was strange.

"I didn't kill your friend, Claire."

I met his eyes.

"Promise?"

He sighed.

"I promise," he assured me and then his gaze fell lower down on my face "Everything back to order?"

I'd totally forgotten about what'd happened just a few minutes ago. I looked down on myself and frowned.

"Yeah, just the dirt and blood now." I said with a pout as I brushed my hand over my dress. Quicker than an eyelid shuts, he grabbed both my wrist and pulled my hands away from the dress. I looked up at him in chock.

"Not here. Do it in the bathroom." He complained and stared leading me away from the hallway. The apartment was small; that hallway, a living room, a small kitchen and two closed doors in another very tiny hallway. I assumed that one lead to the bedroom and one lead to the bathroom. I was at least right on the last one.

He kicked the door opened and led me into the cramped space. He released me and bent over the bathtub and started the shower. He turned to me.

"You can use any towel from the rack," he said and gestured to the rack on the wall over the toilet "I'll be in the living room."

He went passed me and was just about to leave the room when I panicked. I threw my arms out and grabbed his. He stopped abruptly and turned to me.

"Please don't leave!" I winced, still grabbing his arm. He looked down on me with unreadable eyes. Then he smiled.

"Why not?" he asked. I hesitated. I didn't really know why I didn't want him to go and after a brief moment of thought, I said the most logical thing, even if it wasn't logical to me.

"I'm afraid you won't come back." I whispered and released his arm. To my surprise, he chuckled.

"Claire, this is _my_ apartment, why would I leave?"

I bit my lip.

"It's just… You've been gone for so long. I still don't really believe all this. I mean, just the way I feel right now is ridiculous. Why do I feel so…"

"Safe." He interrupted. I didn't dare to look at him.

"And…"

"Relieved, happy."

I forced my eyes to meet his.

"Exactly." I said a bit surprised. He smiled at me.

"Tell you what," he said and with one of his fingers he arranged some hair out of my face "I'll turn my back, let you hop in the shower and then I'll tell you why you feel like this. Okay?"

I didn't really understand what he meant by that, but he'd just given me a solution to how I could take a shower without him leaving, so I just nodded and watched him turn around with a smirk in his face. I undressed quickly, climbed into the bathtub, drew the curtain to cover me and stepped into the streaming water. I heard him sit down on the toilet lid.

"Thank you." I said

"For what?" he asked.

"For helping me."

"Nah, that's nothing. Any time, Claire-bear."

"So tell me then." I said as I picked up the shampoo bottle and squeezed some into my palm.

"It's my fault." He said.

"How do you mean?"

"I acquired this power some year's back, which lets me decode how people should feel. You would probably be kind of scared now if I hadn't decided to make you feel safe instead."

"Well that explains a lot," I chuckled "But hey, why don't I feel scared when I know this?"

"Doesn't work that way."

"Huh…" I simply said as I put some conditioner into my hair "So how did you get the ability to teleport?"

When he answered, he sounded kind of solemn.

"Took it from a guy named Dean. But it's just the teleportation. I can't travel through or stop time. Unfortunately."

"That's too bad," I said and turned the shower off " Can you hand me a towel?"

His hand appeared on my side of the curtain and I grabbed the towel he was holding and wrapped it around me. I pulled the curtain back and he helped me out of the shower.

"I've got some clothes in the bedroom. Come on."

He grabbed my hand and I followed him through the other door into the bedroom. He released my hand, went over to the closet and pulled out a pair of pajama pants and a T-shirt. He reached out and I took them from him. He stared at me for a second before turning around to let me dress. After I'd done so he turned around and gestured to the bed. I pulled the covers back and climbed into it. I saw him take off his shoes, socks, shirt and then jeans as I pulled the covers up over me and snuggled briefly into the soft fabric. He went around to the other side of the bed and climbed in himself. I closed my eyes and relaxed.

Then he moved, and I felt him lift the covers and crawl in behind me. He put his arm over my waist and pressed himself into my body. I flinched as I felt the tip of his nose stroke the back of my neck. Though this was very unpleasant, the whole "feeling safe with him"-feeling stopped me from pulling away.

"Don't do that," I told him "It's creepy."

He just chuckled and sniffed my damped hair.

"You really think that?" he asked.

"Yes." I said with a stiff voice. The arm he had around me rose and he gently cupped my cheek with his hand. He leaned forward and kissed the bare skin of my neck.

"I can make you feel otherwise." He whispered.

"Please don't." I begged.

"Hmm… Why not give it a try." He said and in some reason, I will never be able to explain exactly how, he'd flipped me over so that I was facing him. I opened my mouth to protest but as I caught the sight of his wonderful eyes my body tensed with desire and I grabbed behind his neck and pulled my face closer to his. I placed the side of my nose against his and as I spoke, my lips caressed his.

"Wow…" I said breathlessly "That's amazing."

"I know," He said against my lips and my whole body shivered "But unfortunately, it's not that appealing to me when I'm the one controlling both sides." He said and pulled away. I instantly returned to my former state of mind as I watched him place himself on his back, folding his hands behind his head. He leaned his head toward me and peered down at me. I smiled a soft smile at him, crawled up beside him and placed myself in his arms, which he folded around me.

"Night." I said and closed my eyes.

"Night, Claire-bear." he replied.

***

Everything was so warm and I inhaled the smell from that solid yet soft surface beneath me. I gave out a small moan at the comfort. I was feeling relaxed, safe, and happy. And then I weren't.

I opened my eyes and shot out of bed as the memories of the day before returned to me. I froze on the floor, staring down on his sleeping body, holding my breath. Kill him! I could kill him as he slept. No, that wouldn't work; I didn't know where the spot was now. Burn him alive? RUN! I should most definitely run!

I began breathing again, as quietly as I could and made my way out of the bedroom. His new stupid power didn't seem to work while he slept. I was happy for that.

When I'd reached the hallway I stopped and turned to the direction of the bathroom. What the hell was I thinking? The dress was all bloody anyway. I heard him move from within the bedroom. Holy shit! He's awake! I turned around, flung the door opened and ran.


	4. Attacked Again

**CHAPTER FOUR – ATTACKED AGAIN**

It wasn't until about five minutes into my morning sprint that I realized that every single person I passed actually turned their whole body around and stared after me. I first noticed it when I ran past a huge shopping window and saw the reflection of myself and the lovely couple behind me. I'd stopped abruptly, turned around and screamed from the top of my lungs to them: _I would've been murdered!_ They'd instantly hurried along, casting back distant words of disgust. After that I'd taken a real good look at myself and realized that I had no right to be mad at people for staring at me. So I'd decided to find a calm to sit down, and that's where I was now.

I sat on a bench in front of a quite lovely lake, filled with several different kinds of birds. I'd decided to call Sam to come pick me up, since I apparently was a long way from campus and I think I'd been running in the wrong direction. Sam had told me the first night that her brother lived just around the corner and that he had a car. I wasn't exactly thrilled about revealing myself as the one with the fake-ID, but since I'd left my phone and wallet at… _his_ place… I didn't really have much if a choice. So as I sat there, staring at birds, I drew my eyes away from them and started searching for the most nice-looking person I could find. It took me a few minutes, but then a small, short fat man walked by and I took my chances.

"Um… Excuse me, sir!" I called after him. He turned around and looked at me. I did my best to look in need of assistance, but I didn't really have to strain it, considering my physical appearance.

"You alright, love?" he asked gently and approached me. I put on the puppy-eyes mode and stared into his eyes.

"Not really, I've had such a bad night and I lost my phone and all my money. Do you maybe think I could borrow yours? It would only take a second."

He smiled and reached into his pocket.

"Of course, love" he said and handed me his phone. I gave him a quick but sincere nod before I pressed in the numbers. I knew that memorizing her number was a good idea. She answered on the first ring.

"Hello?" said her always so up-beat voice. I made a face at the sound of it.

"Hi – Um… Sam. It's Sarah."

"OH, HI! I've been so worried about you! The guys said you went off with some guy! Is that true?!"

Her voice wasn't anything but curious. I sighed.

"Well… Yeah, sure."

"Oh, my God! So soon and all. Well, no wonder with that face."

"Um… Yeah. You know, I wanted to ask you something."

"What? Do you want me to be away from the room for a while? Are you bringing him over?"

"No! It's just… I need a ride. Didn't you say your brother had a car?"

"Yeah…" she said in that same childish voice, but then it changed into confusion "Why? Where are you?"

I explained where I was, and unfortunately I had to give her some inside look on the previous night too before I could hang up. Of course I made something up. Something that sounded normal. She bought it. I thanked the man and gave him his phone back. I apologized for the time it took but he left me with a smile on his face. Probably thinking about how stupid we teens were. If he only knew…

It took about forty minutes before a car drove into the parking lot beside the lake and honked. I pushed myself up and forced myself towards the car. I'd had some time to think while I was waiting and I realized that I was probably going to have to run into Lucas, Amanda and Trish sometime during my future stay at campus, but I wasn't really looking forward to it. I had no idea what Milo was doing right now. He couldn't have returned since Sam didn't really mention that her friend had been brutally abused, so I just figured he was in hiding somewhere. I shot these thoughts aside and focused on the car door opening in front of me. Sam climbed out, jaw hanging and eyes staring.

"What the hell happened to you?" she asked without changing her facial expression. I looked down on myself. I was still wearing his pajama pants and t-shirt and I had no shoes on. I could only imagine how my hair would look right now. I hurried past her and opened the door to the back seat and glided in.

"It didn't work out." I simply said as I pulled the door shut.

"No shit." She replied sarcastically as she closed her door as well. The driver angled his upper body so that he could face me.

"Hello again. Brendon Waters." He said smirking. I looked away from him. Even out of those bouncer clothes he looked threatening.

"Hi. Um… Sarah." I murmured back. He laughed loudly and started the car. As soon as we'd exited the parking lot Sam placed herself on her knees and faced me. Her face peeked out from behind the headrest and she stared at me.

"You didn't get hurt, did you?" she sounded sincere.

"No, I just bailed, you know. Didn't really make the cut." I said and added a small laugh. She laughed back.

"I guess a girl like you has her standards, right?"

"I guess so."

We could both hear a clear snort coming from Brendon but we ignored it. We drove in silence the rest of the way.

After we'd said goodbye to Brendon and gotten out of the car me made out way along the pathway leading to the main entrance and suddenly Sam hit me over the arm. I stopped and turn to look at her.

"What?" I asked a little bit annoyed.

"Oh, my God!" she exclaimed and pointed towards my feet in horror. I looked down to see a fucking nail sticking out from it. I hadn't even noticed I'd stepped on it. I looked up and met her eyes and realized that this would actually hurt, in the real world, so I drew in a deep breath and screamed. I did my best to be as subtle as possible and I launched myself into Sam's arms.

"Oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God!" she almost chanted and I felt her whole body shake. I looked up at her with tear-filled eyes.

"Help me to the room." I sniffed.

"We need a doctor!"

"NO!" I said a little bit too abruptly "I hate doctors! It'll all be okay with some bandage. Please!"

"But…"

"Please, Sam!"

"Okay!" she said and started hurrying along the pathway, almost dragging me behind her. We managed to get up to our room without much fuss and everyone we passed just seemed to think I was drunk or something. I exhaled deeply as I threw myself onto the bed. Sam was running around the room rummaging through everything until she found the first-aid kit showed into the bottom drawer of the communed desk. I prepared myself as she approached me.

"Are you sure about this?" she said hesitantly as she stared on the nail piercing my foot. I made a noise of pain and nodded. She exhaled a very long breath and started unpacking the kit.

"Lean back and close your eyes."

"Okay. But you have you have to be quick! Promise!"

"I promise."

And so the show started. I placed my hand over my eyes so I could peek out between my fingers and she grabbed the nail with her fingers. I timed it perfectly when she drew it out and screamed with just the right amount of power. She hurried to clean the wound and then winded the bandage around my foot several times. When she finished I stayed still for a moment while she cleaned everything up. She then placed herself on the bed beside me.

"You alright?"

I groaned.

"Yeah." I said, ever so truthfully "It'll be better in a few days."

"I still want you to go to a doctor."

"I will. I mean, I have this doctor that I usually go to, so he's not that bad. I'll manage with him."

"You could get an infection!" she complained. I chuckled.

"Yeah, right" I said ironically and threw my arm over my eyes.

"Don't say that! It happens, you know! Everybody thinks they'll be okay, and then they lose their stupid foot! It does happen!"

"You'd be amazed at how lucky I am." I said and removed my arm so I could look at her. She was pouting.

"I promise I'll go to the doctor, okay?"

"You better!" she said back to her normal happy self "Well, I actually have to go, will you be alright?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry."

And with that she left. As soon as she'd closed the door I drew the bandage off and went into the bathroom. I undressed and climbed into the shower. It felt like all I did was shower nowadays. I sighed and increased the heat so I could do my normal routine and watch myself redden.

As I stood there inspecting my color shifting arms that weird feeling from before returned to me. Just as if someone was stroking my back, my upper arms, my collarbones, my throat. No, this wasn't stoking anymore. I was being choked. I tried to grab the wrists of whomever's hands it was that was pressing against my throat but my hands just went through them. The hands were made out of water. I tried to turn around to face my attacker, but I couldn't. To my disgust I felt another naked body materialize behind mine and shove itself into mine with such force that I fell forward and hit my head against the wall. I screamed out and swore to whoever it was behind me. A fully solid arm pressed itself over my chest and I felt a chin being placed on my shoulder. Someone was breathing heavily into my ear.

"Not so cocky now, are you, now that you're sweet little savior isn't here."

_Oh my God, Milo._

"What are you doing? Stop it!" I hissed and tried to break free from him. He just grabbed me even tighter and I felt his arousal press against my back.

"How are you doing this?!" I managed to press out between moans of excessive effort "He broke…" I just couldn't speak anymore. The panic rose and I felt one of his hands search it's way down my back. I shrieked and tried to pull away again.

"What? You thought he actually hurt me? I gave him quite a show", he chuckled as he showed me upwards so I would get into a better position "You can't break water, Claire." He was fully ready now and were just about to push, when he slipped on the bathtub and fell forward, pushing me before him down against the hard surface beneath. I hit the wall first, and then I spun around in a strange way and heard several of my own bones crack before I fell out of the tub and landed on the floor. I saw Milo's naked body fall towards me. He tried to grab into something on the sink, but didn't grab anything that could hold him. Out of instinct I turned my face away from him and tried to drag myself away. But it was too late. He fell on top of me and everything disappeared.

"Claire-bear?"

"Dad?"

"Claire? You okay. Come on. Wakey-wakey."

"Dad?"

"Silly girl."

I opened my eyes but I couldn't see anything. I tried to blink, but nothing happened.

And then it did.

My sight returned, my back arched and I gasped violently for air. I started coughing uncontrollably and my heart started pumping again. I reached out with my hands, desperate for something to hold on to, and grabbed onto the first solid thing I could find. Fabric. Oh, thank God. Fabric. Something solid, something real. I tried to focus my eyes but didn't manage. I was starting to get dizzy and felt my body reject my commands and fall backwards. Something grabbed me before I could fall and pulled me back up. I felt my face fall onto something hard and someone chuckle. I clenched my fingers harder into the fabric, scared to let go. I just wanted to wake up. Everything would be alright then. Why was this taking so long? It never took this long.

"Something's wrong!" I cried out.

"What?" someone asked. I released one hand and smashed it into the face I knew was in front of me in a desperate attempt to figure out who it was. I ran my hand all over, but my feeling had to be fucked up since touching just felt weird. All of the sudden everything felt weird. Something crawled inside of my veins, searched its way up my throat and placed itself before my eyes, blurring my vision. It was the most awful feeling I'd ever had. I screamed.

"Something's wrong!! It's not working right! Please make it stop!"

I threw myself away from the stranger in front of me and started throwing myself around on the floor, trying to get whatever this was out of me. I couldn't see or hear now. Everything was blocked.

"You… Get… Stupid…" I managed to hear and felt someone grabbing me by the arms and forcing me onto my back. I was straddled and pinned down to the floor forcefully. And then someone showed their hands into my chest and a few moments after I felt my ribs crack completely a sudden relief filled me as something was pulled out of me. I gasped, but quickly realized it wasn't going so great considering one of my lungs was smashed like a balloon. I pulled myself backwards until I felt the wall and then pushed myself up into e strange sitting position. I threw my gaze forwards to find two men, one dressed and one naked, struggle in the middle of the room. It looked weird, like some kind of kinky wrestling and I couldn't help but to laugh. It didn't work and I returned my focus towards myself. I tried to be patient as I watched my lung slowly heal itself and took a deep breath in relief as it did so. I forced my ribs back together and watched as my chest healed completely. I sank exhausted to the floor and closed my eyes.

.


	5. Answer And Question

CHAPTER FIVE – ANSWER AND QUESTION

Everything was floating inside my head for the moment. I heard footsteps approaching me; I felt a soft but hesitant touch on my cheek and something being placed over me. I tried to open my eyes but my lids felt like they weight more than five of me. I opened my mouth to say something but I couldn't for the world remember what it was I wanted to say. I felt movement in the air in front of me and breath on my face. I reached up with my hand and someone grabbed it in its own. I heard words, but for the moment, I didn't know what they meant. Then whoever it was released my hand and disappeared as quick as a cat and at the following second I heard someone open the door. Loud words came from everywhere and I decided to fall more into myself to ignore it. I felt hands touching me and mouths speaking at a very close range to my face, but I stayed still. I actually managed to faint again, I think, since when I actually opened my eyes I wasn't in my room. I was in a hospital bed.

I panicked. Who had noticed me? Who had been my doctor? Who had stung me with a needle? Taken a blood sample? Who knew I wasn't normal right now and at this moment was standing with several of his or hers colleges, discussing the strange girl that'd just come in? I quickly pulled myself up to a sitting position and scanned the room. I shrieked as I met the eyes of a strange man. Only, it wasn't a strange man.

The lawyer sat with his legs crossed on a chair in the corner of the room, smiling at me. I exhaled.

"What happened?" I asked as Seamus Cornell got up from the chair, walked across the room and placed his hands on the board behind my bed.

"You're asking me? How would I know? I wasn't there."

"Yeah, I know, but…" I stopped. What did I mean to say? There was no chance in hell he could know what had happened over at my dorm before. Yesterday? Two days ago? How long…

"Seamus, how long have I been here?"

He smiled a sort of wicked smile and leaned forward a bit.

"You've been unconscious for three days, Ms. Bennet."

I froze and the panic returned. Three days? That would mean that at least one doctor must've taken a good look at me. I squeezed my eyes shut and held my breath.

"Don't worry, Ms. Bennet. No one has noticed anything weird with the girl in room 208. I promise."

I shot my eyes open and stared at him.

"How can you be so sure? There has to be a doctor or a nurse or a…"

"Ms. Bennet! I've been your lawyer for many years now! Don't you think that I've done everything I possibly can to make sure that everything will be alright if something like this were to ever happen? You need not to worry about it."

I stared at him, a bit chocked at his interruption.

"What do you mean?" I asked the lawyer and he gave me a warm smile.

"Just that everything is alright, Ms. Bennet. I will fill you in later."

"I wish you wouldn't say that!" I exclaimed and gave out a loud sigh.

"Say what?" He asked

"Ms. Bennet! Come on, Seamus! We've known each other for too long to stay at that!"

"Sweet one. I know that. You mean very much to me. Not just because of your own person, not that you're not a wonderful one, just that we will always share something beautiful."

"What?" I asked, confused. He chuckled lightly.

"Our ability, of course. We share the same gift, and that will always be precious to me. I'll always have a friend. When everyone else I know will get old and die eventually, I will always be able to give you a call."

I silenced. My first reaction was anger. He'd just stated that everyone he'll ever know will die and that mean that everyone I'll ever know too will die long before me. Then I actually thought over what he'd just said; and I realized that he'd just told me he would always cherish my friendship. I smiled as my mood softened.

He opened his mouth to speak but at the same time the door to my room opened and he closed it again.

A man dressed in scrubs entered through the door and walked over to the bed. He shook Seamus 's hand and gave him a quick nod before turning to me.

"Ms. Bennet." he said and smiled reassuring at me. I couldn't help but smile back. He looked like a very nice and honest person and the mere fact that he was standing in the same room as me made me feel so much better. I took a deep breath before I answered.

"That's me!" I said beaming.

"I'm are you feeling today?"

I took a minute to think over my answer. I nibbled lightly on my lover lip as I really thought about it. How was I feeling? Should I be feeling badly in some way? I couldn't quite remember how I'd gotten here; just that horrible feeling of something inside me and then my chest being broken open by someone. Nothing after that. Just waking up, here and now. I'd been here for three days, not remembering anything during that time and now I was feeling… Hungry. Yeah, that's it. I'm hungry became the answer to the question. The doctor chuckled.

"Well I'm glad to say that that's normal. But except for the hunger, how's everything?"

"I feel great actually. I just want to know why I'm here."

The doctor and Seamus exchanged glances of hesitation. I cleared my throat and they both turned to look at me.

"I am almost a hundred and fifty years old, you know. I think I'm quite old enough to know about all my personal stuff."

"Of course" the doctor said and his face softened. I still got a feeling that he didn't want to tell me. I straightened my body slightly and locked my face tight.

"Well" he started, speaking slowly and accurate "When you first came in I feared the worst. I knew you were special since Mr. Cornell here had called and explained the situation for me vaguely but he never told me you could regenerate, so when you came in covered in blood and other stuff…"

"Other stuff?" I interrupted.

"Let's just say that some of the things outside your body were actually sopposed to be inside your body."

I made a face at the thought.

"Oh..." I simply said and gestured to him to continue.

"But I quickly noticed that you were just fine under all that blood and, um… Yeah, you know."

"But then?" I asked, "What was it that put me here. I've never felt anything like it. The mere fact that I've been unconscious for a whole three days is totally new to me. It's never happened before."

"Well, you were completely healthy but you had something inside your veins that weren't supposed to be there."

"What?" I asked with a shiver at the thought of something inside me.

"Water." He said and looked at me with asking eyes, like he expected me to explain that to him.

"Water?"

"Yeah, for a while it was water yes."

"And what does that mean?" I hissed at him. He was a doctor, he wasn't supposed to speak in riddles. "Explain!"

"Well, after we managed to get some of the misplaced water out, it kind of… Shifted."

"Into what?"

"Into a man's flesh. Or a woman's. We didn't get the chance to process it since it disappeared."

"Disappeared? How?"

"Well, it turned back into water and just ran away."

He smiled lightly to himself. I glared.

"Very funny."

He stopped smiling.

"So you're saying that I had a human inside me?"

He went quiet and his eyes fled as if he was thinking this over.

"Pretty much."

Seamus stood up with his hands raised.

"Enough now! Ms. Bennet needs her rest and I don't think she'll want to stay here any longer than necessary. "

I nodded.

"Thank you for everything doctor, you've been very helpful. I will escort Ms. Bennet home now and I promise to call you if we get to know anything else about all this."

The doctor nodded, have us each a smile and left the room. I went into the bathroom and changed into some fresh clothes Seamus had brought for me and then we walked out of the hospital and got into the car.

As we pulled out from the hospital's parking lot Seamus got right to the big question.

"Do you know who it was?" he asked without taking his eyes of the road. I frowned.

"Unfortunately, I think I do. It must be that shithead Milo. He knows my secret and once I met him in the hallway soaking wet. And it wasn't raining that day. I'm pretty sure it's him."

"Milo, huh?" Seamus said, mostly to himself, "He lives at the school?"

"Yeah."

"You really want to go back there? He could hurt you again."

"I can't die, Seamus. Whatever he does to me, I can always come back from it."

He sighed.

"I know that. I just don't like the thought of you getting hurt."

I turned my head away to hide my smile.

"I'm just so glad that you're okay now."

My smile vanished and I swooshed my head around to look at him. I think he noticed my sudden move because he let his gaze leave the road for a short while to meet my eyes.

"Do you know who it was in my room?"

"You just said. Milo, wasn't it? Don't tell me your memory is fucking up?"

"No, I mean who it was that saved me. Wasn't it you that found me?"

"What? What are you talking about? I got a call saying that you were in the hospital and I made sure that you'd get the right doctor. I never found you in your room. I didn't know anything until you were at the hospital. Was there someone else there too? In your room?"

"I think so," I said hesitantly. "Someone pulled most of him out of me through my chest. Someone strong I assume. He cracked my whole chest open with just one try."

Seamus went silent. I did the same. We both spent the following minute thinking this over.

"Who do you think it could've been?" He asked me, breaking the silence.

"I have no idea." I answered honestly.

"Well, thin about it and if you come to any conclusion you call me, alright?"

"I promise."


	6. Pushy

CHAPTER SIX - PUSHY

I stood with my hand on the door handle for about two minutes before actually opening the door. I'd been listening. I wasn't in the mood for being attacked by questions I hadn't made up an answer for yet. When I was pretty sure that Sam wasn't in the room I opened the door, quickly stepped inside and closed it behind me. I even locked it just in case she'd come back during the time I was in the room.

It didn't take me long to pack all my belongings and I made sure to leave my side of the room as neat as humanly possible. When I was done with that I even cleaned the bathroom. I figured that was the least I could to for Sam since she'd always been nice to me. When I was done with the bathroom I acquired some paper and a pencil and started writing a note;

Sam,

I'm having some problems with the family and I have to leave for a while. Don't know when I will be coming back, but I'm leaving my number and my parents address. That's where I'll be staying. Sorry you weren't here, but I had to leave at once.

Sarah.

I put the note on her pillow and returned the pencil to its original place on her desk. I'd actually written the right address on the note. I'd decided to go to one of my houses and for some reason it seemed right to give her the number and address.

I took one last look around the room and then threw my bag over my shoulder. I stepped over to the door and opened it.

He was standing right outside as I opened. I froze with my hand on the handle, just staring at him. He didn't move or speak and I used that to my advantage. I threw the door closed and rushed back into my room. It didn't even matter anyway since he caught the door before it could slam shut and was in the room with me before I'd even taken two steps. I turned around to face him and caught a glance of the window as I did. A thought hit me. I could just jump out of the window, fall down and then run away. My body actually shifted towards it before I realized that it was to no use. He'd be faster than me since I'd have to heal and there was a possibility that someone would see me. So not worth it. I couldn't die anyway.

So I let my eyes meet his.

"What do you want?" I asked and dropped my bag onto the floor so I could cross my arms over my chest and create a posture as confident as possible. He smiled at me and closed the door behind him. Thought this should've been a very threatening action considering who was performing it, nothing about his body language told me he meant harm. Still, I knew that he probably could make any person believe whatever he wanted. He was a manipulating serial killer. And a good one, too.

He placed his arms behind his back.

"Just talk, Claire." He said with a calm voice. I stared at him and when he didn't move or speak again, I forced myself to take a step towards the window. Just in case.

"I really don't feel like talking." I answered with a just as calm voice as his. He sighed.

"I figured. How are you?"

"What?"

Why the hell would he want to know how I was feeling. Why was he acting so darn weird?

"I was wondering how you felt. Didn't you hear me?"

"I heard you just fine!" I snapped. "Now could you please leave?"

"I will." He simply said and casually went over to sit at my bed. While he did so I took one more step towards the window. He looked up at me and gave me a playful smile.

"That won't work, Claire. I know you aren't that stupid."

I didn't answer him. Instead I glared at him and took one more step. This time making it very obvious to him what I was doing, really stomping my foot into the floor as the step ended. He chuckled lightly.

"What do you want?" I demanded.

"I told you. I want to talk to you."

"Then talk."

He rose from the bed and walked over to me. Even though my heart was racing with fear I stood my grounds and didn't move even the slightest. When his tall body was too close for eye contact I angled my head upwards so I could reattach our eyes again.

"Talk." I said again.

He shifted forward and bent down towards me. He placed his mouth by my ear.

"I had fun last time."

My body stiffened at the memory and the embarrassment consumed my body. I clenched my teeth together and closed my eyes shut. I didn't answer him.

He pulled back from me.

"I didn't mean that time, Claire. But I'm quite intrigued by your reaction." He chuckled darkly. I slowly opened my eyes again and located his.

"What are you talking about?" I asked him angrily.

"Last time. You remember, body snatchers, broken ribcages.

I stared at him. Did he mean..? But how? Why?

"That was you?" I blurted out in astonishment without thinking about it. He smiled.

"Who did you think it was?" He asked, sounding amused.

"Someone I know!" I said complaining "Someone I like! Someone who likes me!"

It'd never even occurred to me that my mystery savior wouldn't have been anything but those things and I was honestly surprised by this new information. Of course, he could be lying but why would he? And it was possible. He did know me. In some way. He knew that he wouldn't kill me by crashing his hands into my chest and he certainly had the strength to even do that.

"You do know me, Claire. For the liking part… Well, we're getting there." He said smiling.

"I want you to leave now." I said and made a way to obvious gesture towards the window "Please." I added with a hiss from between my teeth.

"I told you I wanted to talk first!"

"You've said enough!"

"Clai…" He started saying but were cut off when someone opened the door. Before I could even react he flew towards me, grabbed me around the waist and we darted away. For a brief second I wasn't touching the floor but just as quick as he had grabbed me he had released me again and I felt the ground beneath me. I stumbled as my head rushed by this sudden action and he grabbed me again. I closed my eyes and let my head clear before opening them again and pulling myself away from him. He let me do that, which I hadn't expected.

My head was racing with confusion to why he wasn't attacking me but I forced those thoughts away so I could examine my situation. I looked around me. I was outside and no longer in my dorm. I looked up and saw my window. I turned my attention to him.

"What are you doing, Sylar? My stuff was up there! I needed them! Now Sam will find them and I'll have to see here before…!"

He cut me off.

"Easy, Claire! I brought the bag! Don't worry!"

He pointed to a spot right beside me and as he'd said, the bags were there.

"Oh." Was all I was able to say.

"Now can we please talk?" He asked.

"No!" I hissed and reached for my bag. When he didn't stop me I grabbed it, slung it around my shoulder, turned around and started walking away from him. I figured he wouldn't hurt me since he hadn't done that already and I didn't have time to stand here and talk to a serial killer.

When I'd walked a few steps I looked back and saw him following me. I looked back in front of me and frowned with irritation while I walked.

When I was outside school grounds I turned right and stared walking toward the nearest parking garage. I looked back for a brief second and saw that he still followed me. When I reached the entrance to the garage I hesitated. Should I really go in there when he was following me? We would be all alone and no people would see us. Well, I had to go in if I wanted the car so I steadied my steps and walked in.

I reached my Mercedes without being attacked my by follower. I fished out the keys from my bag and opened the car. I threw the bag in the back seat and then placed myself behind the wheel. I started the car and drove out from the space.

"Nice car."

I screamed, hit the break and felt the car stop violently. I took a deep breath to calm myself. I didn't work.

"Why did you do that!" I screamed at his face where he sat beside me in the car "I could've crashed the fucking car!"

"I didn't mean to scare you, Claire." He said calmly while he was inspecting his own fingernails. I glared at him for a while before speaking again.

"Can you please get out of my car." I demanded between clenched teeth.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I'm going home and you're not invited."

"Can't you just drop me off on the way?"

"NO!" I screamed at him "You can walk yourself!"

He turned and looked at me. I recoiled from him and pressed my back to the car window. It doesn't matter if he didn't hurt me in any way. He still scared.

He smiled, looked away and continued inspecting his own fingernails.

"We still need to talk."

"No we don't."

"Yes we do, Claire."

I sighed. I knew I wasn't going to win this.

"Fine!" I hissed "But not today. Please."

"I'll come by tomorrow." He said and before I knew it he was gone. I stared at the empty seat beside me for a while before I started the car again and drove out form the garage.


End file.
